No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known. (John 1:18, NIV)
Sometimes I marvel at my PGA professional friends and what they are able to see in a golf swing. Long-time professional and coach Bobby McIver tells of the time he received a “one-ball lesson” from Harvey Penick, then went out and dismantled the competition in the section qualifier for the PGA National Club Professional Championship. The legendary Penick had made a slight adjustment in McIver’s thumb and feet. That’s all it took.
The marks of the best teachers become evident in a hurry. While they recognize that each player is different, their way of talking about a problem or setting players up for success suddenly starts showing up in the speech and actions of these pupils. Long before Penick’s thoughts were codified in his Little Red Book, Hall of Fame players like Ben Crenshaw, Tom Kite, and Mickey Wright were repeating them in their own minds and planting them in others. You see a great teacher in the students he or she trains.
In the prologue of John’s gospel, we find reference to the direct relationship between God the Father and God the Son. While both are God, the Father was not revealed in visible form until Jesus came. Through the Son, the Father was made known. He was truly God in the flesh.
You may have many friends today who are not sure what to make of God. They have many earnest questions or they hold God at a distance as an “unknowable mystery.” It is true that not every aspect of God is known to us, but when we understand the relationship between Jesus and the Father, we recognize that God is no mystery either. He is revealed to us in the Son, who walked among the people and said to those who would be his disciples, “Follow me.”
Did you get that? Don’t miss it. If the revelation of the Father has come through the Son, the revelation of the Son comes through his disciples. This is not in all ways the same. We are not “ourselves Christ” in the way that Christ is “himself God.” However, we come after him, walking “in his steps” (1 Peter 2:21) and living an example of who Jesus us, both for believers and non-believers.
Paul wrote, “follow my example as I follow the example of Christ,” encouraging us to take up this same pass-it-on life in Jesus. To whom will you show Jesus today?
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Jeff Hopper
January 24, 2014
Copyright 2014 Links Players International
The Links Daily Devotional appears Monday-Friday at www.linksplayers.com.